Wake up Denver! Actually, wake up America!  It’s no secret our education system ranks amongst the lowest in the world in math and science.  It’s also no secret that Denver only graduates just over half of its high school seniors and the dropout rate is abysmal. And, there are 1.2 million students dropping out per year in the United States!

Most of us walk around feeling helpless, pointing fingers and bad-mouthing teachers and administrators for not doing enough for the children – the children!  Well, we are the makers of these children and we began as the children, didn’t we?  When we fail them, we have failed ourselves.  School was originally developed to be linear and follow a track decades ago.  This was so our children could work in factories or on the farm.  Go to school, learn your numbers, break for lunch, learn your letters.  School was never about the organic and evolutionary nature of how children actually learn.  Most public schools follow that same track system today.

So, do we just sit around while ineffective teachers and administrators lead and teach our kids?  I suppose we should ask, “Are they actually leading and teaching my children?” Or, do we stir the pot, challenge them, question them and ask, “What are you doing to take my child to the next level, to inspire them?”  If they cannot answer, are you seeking alternative education or asking for change  so they will be in an environment that is rewarding and inclusive and progressive?

We are privileged (and for some, burdened) with many school choices here in Denver. But, those schools that are successful and making positive change are so incredibly difficult to “get in” to (it’s like winning the lottery if you do succeed). As Oprah said on her show yesterday, September 20th, 2010 about this very subject, “You shouldn’t have to win the lottery to get a good education!” What happens if your child doesn’t get in to one of these coveted schools, then what?

Waiting for “Superman” is a documentary film created by critically acclaimed and award winning director (of An Inconvenient Truth), Davis Guggenheim.  It has a similar premise as another film, The Lottery, a recent documentary about families vying for a spot in an amazing and high achieving NYC charter school. Waiting for “Superman” explores the state of our current public schools in the U.S. and how they are affecting our children and subsequently our children’s children.

Waiting for “Superman” will be released nationally sometime in October.  On October 15th, Denver will get our chance to see this film.  Please join us in watching; this is a MUST see whether you are pleased with your child’s education or not. It’s for everyone.

In the words of author, educator and radical thinker Ken Robinson, “Every education system is being reformed at the moment. And it’s not enough. Reform is no use anymore because that’s simply improving a broken model. What we need is not evolution, but a revolution. This has to be transformed into something else.”

To see yesterday’s Oprah Show, where her Angel Network awarded six “Groundbreaking Charter Schools” each $1 Million dollars, the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) Charter School included among them, go here: The Oprah Show – Waiting for “Superman”

When you’ve had a chance to see the Oprah Show and the documentary, Waiting for “Superman“, please tell us what you think.  Who will be Denver’s “One Woman Tornado”? What will you do to strive for educational excellence? If you don’t know where to turn, perhaps start here: Take Action Denver.  Let’s bring this rumble to a ROAR!

It looks like the answer to that is an overwhelming YES! There were over 10,000 choice applicants for the 2009-2010 school year and 38,000 children on wait lists for charter schools statewide. Read Jeremy Meyer’s article below to get the scoop!

Demand in charter schools forces lotteries, long waiting lists

Alma Meraz’s eyes welled when her daughter’s name was pulled from a cookie jar during an enrollment lottery for the high-performing West Denver Prep charter school.

“I’m so happy,” said Meraz, who cleans houses for a living. “I need her to go to this school for better opportunities. For a better life.”

West Denver Prep — which some parents have come to view as a first step toward college and possibly a lifeline out of poverty — is rated the second-best school in Denver.

The school’s college-preparatory curriculum and swift interventions for struggling students have been touted for helping at- risk kids beat the academic odds. West Denver Prep now posts some of the best academic growth in the state.

The middle school also draws nearly double the number of applicants it can seat, meaning waiting lists are long and disappointments high during the annual school- choice enrollment period.

It’s a scenario played out across the state each winter, as parents battle to get their kids into popular, high-performing schools during the choice period.

The Colorado Department of Education estimates about 38,000 children are waiting to get into Colorado charter schools. One such school, Classical Academy in Colorado Springs, has 7,800 students on its wait list.

School choice, enacted in Colorado in the early 1990s, remains controversial. The system was designed to encourage districts to improve all of their schools and build programs tailored to student desires.

It also created winners and losers.

Winning schools, with high academic growth and test scores, tend to draw a flood of applicants, leading to lotteries and waiting lists.

Schools on the other end of the performance spectrum face declining enrollments and often calls for closure.

The federal government is spearheading a movement to close the lowest-performing charter schools and implement turnaround strategies for district-run schools.

At a recent meeting in Jefferson County, residents demanded that the district eliminate choice and focus on improving neighborhood schools. But choice is a state law and is supported by the federal government.

And if the number of kids on waiting lists is any proof, parents want the freedom to choose.

About 220 families applied for 120 spaces in West Denver Prep’s fall sixth-grade classes on the South Federal Boulevard campus. About 200 families applied for 120 spots at West Denver Prep’s Harvey Park campus.

Valerie Espinoza, a 10-year-old who is in fifth grade at Castro Elementary, cried after seven of her classmates were chosen during the enrollment lottery last week. Her name was No. 207 — impossibly far down the wait list, said Chris Gibbons, head of the school.

Last year, the school had at least 50 students on a waiting list.

“We’d love to be able to have more families in,” Gibbons said. “That’s why we are opening more schools.”

Two more West Denver Prep campuses will open in the fall in northwest Denver. Both already have received as many applications as spaces.

Denver Public Schools this year has 1,812 students on waiting lists for all but three of its charter schools.

It’s not just charters that are turning away students. Denver’s high-performing traditional schools, such as Bromwell, Denver School of the Arts and Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, are in high demand.

For the 2009-10 school year, DPS received 10,539 choice applications. Of those, 8,013 students got into their first-choice school.

The remaining 24 percent either went to neighborhood schools; attended their second-, third- or fourth- choice schools; enrolled in charter schools; or left the district altogether.

“It makes clear how deeply parents care about having good choices for their students,” said Superintendent Tom Boasberg, who has led an effort to bring more options to the district.

Soon, DPS will put out a call for proposals for new schools, seeking more charters or performance schools that will draw students and lift achievement. Last year, the school board approved 11 new schools.

Denver School of Science & Technology — which will be opening four new schools — is currently the district’s top school, according to DPS’s annual scorecard. Last month, the high school received about 700 applications for 140 slots for next fall’s ninth-grade classes.

“They are coming from all over the city, all incomes,” said Bill Kurtz, head of school.

Nevertheless, the demand for some schools and the neglect of others reveals a chasm in public education, said Katie Holz-Russell, principal of West Denver Prep’s Federal campus.

“I feel it should be a given that a kid can wake up on his fifth-grade graduation day and know that he is going to go to a great school next year,” she said. “The great injustice is that simply is not the case. I’m reminded of that when we stand here in a lottery.”

Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com

Numbers

10,539Students who applied for choice schools in Denver Public Schools for the 2009-10 year

8,013Students who got their first choice

38,000Students on waiting lists for charter schools statewide, including 7,800 for Classical Academy in Colorado Springs and 1,812 in DPS

The Board of Education has recommended changes for 6 schools within the Denver Public School system. The recommendations include transforming six low-performing DPS schools into successful schools, proposals for the overcrowding issues at the Stapleton schools, and proposed locations for new schools that would open for the 2010 school year. The board is expected to make their decisions at the end of this month.

Read the entire press release below:

DPS Announces Recommendations for 6 Low-Performing Schools

Denver, CO—The leadership of the Denver Public Schools today made a series of recommendations to the Board of Education for turning around low-performing schools and for locations of new schools that are scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.

“These are critically important decisions that are the result of long conversations, difficult discussions, and careful consideration,” DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg said. “Our absolute focus is on the decisions that will create the very best opportunities and the very best schools for the children and families of Denver.”

Boasberg also pointed to the Obama Administration’s investment in a broad range of turnaround strategies as another factor in the district’s recommendations. In announcing the contribution of billions of dollars of federal support for school-turnaround efforts, President Obama last week emphasized the importance of focusing on struggling schools. The federal government will be looking at “whether a state is focused on transforming not just its high-performing schools, not just the middle-of-the-pack schools, but the lowest-performing schools,” according to the president. “There’s always excuses for why these schools can’t perform. But part of what we want is an environment in which everybody agrees—from the governor to the school superintendent, teachers, principals, and most importantly parents and students—that there’s no excuse for mediocrity. And we will take drastic steps when schools aren’t working.”

There are now unprecedented resources available, through the multibillion-dollar “Race to the Top” program, to invest in struggling schools—approximately $13 million for DPS over the next three years, if the district meets the federal school turnaround criteria.

“This is some of the toughest and most important work we do—making very difficult decisions about dramatic school changes,” Boasberg said. “I understand the sensitivity of these decisions; they have great impact on our students and families, our teachers and our school leaders. In every school in the district we have wonderfully committed and talented teachers and school leaders working to improve opportunities for our students. We must recognize that commitment and talent and at the same time be willing to recognize some of our schools over the past several years have consistently failed to demonstrate satisfactory progress with their students. To recognize the latter is not to undermine the former. Rather it is to recognize that change is sometimes needed to allow our talented educators to establish and develop the kind of school cultures, atmosphere, and structures to best meet the needs of our students.”

In making the recommendations, the district’s leadership looked at the last four years of student growth data on the School Performance Framework. The six schools—three district-run schools and three charters—evaluated for turnaround strategies have each demonstrated student growth far below district averages over these last four years. The three district-run schools—Philips, Greenlee, and Lake—were the bottom-three performing schools out of the 130 schools on the district’s SPF rankings this year. The three charter schools—Northeast Academy, Skyland, and PS 1—are the three lowest-performing charter schools on the SPF.

Additionally, teams from the Colorado Department of Education performed an intensive diagnostic review on each of the schools. These qualitative diagnostics involve a week-long visit and conversations with school administrators, teachers, staff, students and parents and an evaluation of three areas: Academic Performance, Learning Environment, and Organizational Effectiveness. In each of these six schools, the CDE diagnostics emphasized significant shortcomings in each of these three major areas.

“It is essential that we engage the entire community in a discussion of the issues surrounding these decisions. Our strategies include turning around our lowest-performing schools in order to ensure that all of our students, in every neighborhood of the city, are graduating from our high schools prepared for college or career,” Boasberg added. “We have listened to the parents, students, teachers, and community members, beginning with regional meetings last spring and continuing this fall. We deeply appreciate their input and their commitment to our schools, and we believe these are the actions that will bring about the best outcomes for our students. We will continue to work with parents and the entire community going forward on these recommendations and more broadly on strategies to improve the performance of struggling schools elsewhere in district. ”

The Board of Education will hear public comment on these recommendations and those made last week at its Nov. 16 and Nov. 19 meetings, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Board is expected to vote on all of the recommendations at its Nov. 30 meeting.

DPS November 9 Recommendations: A Regional Summary

Far Northeast

Proposed Turnaround of Northeast Academy, Charter School—The district has recommended an intensive school transformation initiative, including a comprehensive reorganization of the school’s academic program, in consultation and partnership with an education-management organization.

Proposed Co-Locations of SOAR, DSST, Multiple-Pathway Center at new Green Valley Ranch E-12 Campus

SOAR (charter school): Grades K-5 (over time); would serve 428 students at capacity; will provide a holistic educational approach with rigorous academic instruction and an extended school day; replication of FLI Academy in Harlem, NY—a proven model that has a school-wide proficiency rate of 85% in English language arts and 84% in math; plans to start with about 230 kindergarten through second-grade students in fall of 2010.

Northeast

Proposed Replacement of Philips Elementary School—The district has recommended that Philips be closed and replaced in fall of 2010 with Odyssey Charter School, which currently resides in Westerly Creek Elementary School. Philips’ neighborhood students in grades K-4, would be offered seats at Stapleton schools (Roberts or Westerly Creek) or Park Hill for the 2010-2011 school year. Students who currently choice-in to Philips would return to their home school or choice to other district schools. The Autistic Special Education Center Programs would be re-located to Stapleton schools. Transportation would be provided according to district transportation policy. Boundary changes would be necessary for all students living in the Philips attendance area.

Proposed Closure of Skyland Charter School—The district has recommended that Skyland be closed and its charter contract be non-renewed. The majority of students live in the attendance areas of Manual, East, George Washington and outside the district. Better-performing options are available for those students in these high schools, as well as in Colorado High School Charter and Community Challenge School.

Proposed Solutions to Stapleton Overcrowding—Rapid growth in student demand requires provision of additional capacity; near and mid-term solutions were developed with strong community input and civic leadership, with a focus on high quality schools that reflect the diversity of the Stapleton ring community; relocation of Odyssey Charter School, construction of third elementary school, temporary ECE center in Westerly Creek facility, and boundary change with Philips would address capacity concerns for near and mid–term.

Proposed location of Denver Language School at former Whiteman—The charter school would serve about 470 K-8 students at full capacity and offer full immersion in Mandarin and Spanish; would open with about 200 K-2 students in fall of 2010.

Southeast

Proposed location of Denver Green School at former Fallis—The Performance School would serve about 550 E-8 students at capacity; will implement a flexible, student-centered, standards-based curriculum that will emphasize hands-on and project-based learning with an emphasis on environmental sustainability; would open in fall of 2010 with about 240 preschool-2 and 6th-grade students.

Northwest

Proposed Turnaround/Restart of Greenlee Elementary School—The district has recommended that Greenlee change from a ECE-8 school to a ECE-5 school and that a comprehensive literacy program be implemented for the 2010-2011 school year. Students currently in ECE through grade four would be able to continue at Greenlee next year without disruption. Students currently in grades five, six and seven would be offered seats at Manny Martinez Charter School, which will become a boundary school, or Dora Moore.

Proposed Turnaround of Lake Middle School and Co-Location with West Denver Prep #3—The district has recommended that:

Lake continue as the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) at Lake International School;
Students currently in grades six and seven be able to continue at the Lake International School in a combined IBMYP 7th and 8th Grade Academy next year without disruption;
The incoming Lake sixth grade class be part of an IBMYP 6th Grade Academy program; and
The Lake facility become a shared campus with West Denver Prep School #3, which would begin operating with sixth grade students in the 2010-2011 school year.

The Lake facility’s capacity is 1000 students, which provides plenty of space for both schools to thrive and grow. As part of this recommendation, Lake’s boundary for the incoming class of 6th-graders in the 2010-2011 school year would be changed. WDP is a charter school that provides a college-preparatory focus, rigorous middle grades education of high standards, structure, and accountability; it is a replication of a proven school model—the only middle school rated as “Distinguished” on the SPF and the only “Distinguished” school with more than 50% of its enrollment eligible for free/reduced-priced meals. The school will serve about 300 6-8 students at capacity. A new boundary would be phased-in starting in the 2010-11 school year for incoming 6th-grade students who live in the Lake attendance area. The Board of Education in June unanimously approved West Denver Prep #3 and #4 for a 2010 opening, with approval specifying that both schools be located in Northwest Denver.

Proposed Location of West Denver Prep #4 at Emerson Street facility—Another replication of the successful charter school at the building that currently houses the Emerson Street alternative school. If approved, the Emerson and P.R.E.P. alternative-education programs would be consolidated into one facility located at P.R.E.P.; each program would continue to offer the same educational and social services previously offered. WDP would have an attendance boundary and serve about 300 6-8 students at full capacity.

Proposed one-year renewal of PS 1 Charter School and replacement through the new-school RFP process—The district has recommended that because this school serves a significant population of students with special needs who lack a strong array of other educational options, the Board grant PS 1 a one-year renewal and replace the school through the RFP process with a new school that can serve the existing students in the fall of 2011.